1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a rotating dual attachment receptacle apparatus tool which allows the user to utilize more than one accessory on a hand held power tool, without the need of changing the drilling or fastening accessory. My invention saves time, eliminates the inconvenience of multiple chucking and unchucking operations, and provides a safe lightweight drilling/driving tool that is economic to manufacture and easy to use.
The task of changing drill bits or other drilling/driving/or fastening accessories has always been a problem, especially when time, convenience and safety are considered. It is not uncommon on any given project to use many different accessories before the completion of the project which require a special tool, such as a chuck key or hex wrench each time an accessory is changed. This frequent switching of accessories causes a loss in time, lessen efficiency and can contribute to reduced safety conditions due to the resultant operator fatigue.
My invention has two separate receptacles, hereafter referred to as a chuck for attachment of accessories, which are located on a rotating drill head assembly. The drill head assembly is so constructed that once the two (2) different accessories are installed into the chuck the switching of accessories can be done quickly and easily, by simply rotating of the rotating drill head assembly until the second chuck with accessory is placed in the operational mode. The rotating drill head assembly is designed for safety reasons to require the operator to simultaneously depress the two (2) locking release buttons before the rotating drill head assembly can rotate about its longitudinal axis of the apparatus main drive shaft. Again for safety reasons a plurality of electric contacts have been disposed within the rotating dual attachment receptacle apparatus tool so as to immediately open the electric circuit once the rotatign drill head assembly is unlocked and rotated about the main drive shaft axis.
Thus, the time and effort required to perform a series of similar drill and drive operations, such as, drilling a hole into a wall or ceiling and then driving a screw or similar fixture into the drilled hole can be dramatically reduced, since switching between the drilling and driving accessories can be done quickly and easily by simply rotating the rotating drill head assembly.
2. Description of Prior Art
A variety of hand held electric tools are currently available, such as, conventional electric drills, electric screw drivers, electric socket wrenches and the like, and such tools tend to be relatively expensive, therefore the elimination of multiple tools where practical produces economic benefit in both material and labor savings.
A few hand tools have been developed with multiple tool heads permanently attached to the fingers of a turret which is rotatable to allow each tool head to travel to a work position. An example of such a structure is illustrated in the Cummingham patent U.S. Pat. No. 910,789. However the Cummingham patent tool is not practical for general assembly work or repair work.
In order to eliminate the use of two separate power driven tools or the constant chucking and unchucking of separate tools into one electric drill, various tool holding attachments for electric drills have been suggested, one such device is the Swanson patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,512,693. The Swanson patent relates to a reversible drill and drive tool holder for use in performing a series of similar drill and drive operations. The Swanson patent as a reversible drill and drill tool holder and attachment to a drilling tool lacks the ability to work in close quarters, requires the exertion of a positive pressure to engage the accessory and fails to provide any protection of the user by having externally exposed surface and openings that can easily catch onto surrounding materials. The Swanson patented drive tool holder does not solve the prior art problem as the applicants invention has.
Another form of rotary power tool with a dual head accessory is evidenced by U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,916 McBride. The McBride patent design is flawed in that it only allows for convenient and accurate power control when using only one of the two chucks. It has a dangerous operating characteristic in that the trigger handle configuration is such, that a user operating said device while using the covered chuck within the retractable guard could unavoidably cause one to activate the power at full speed due to the horizontal pushing required during the drilling operation. Further the McBride patent does not protect the user from the uncovered chuck when the chuck having the retractable guard is being used, leaving the user at risk of being injured by the point of the exposed accessory during its operation.
Finally the access to the chuck having the safety guard is at least difficult, if not impossible, since the space between the chuck and retractable guard is too small to allow for the use of a chuck key due to the spring intrusion. The McBride patent fails to utilize the solutions suggested by applicant's invention, thus lacks the improved functioning charactristics associated with a dual headed accessory which uses a rotating drill head assembly.